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[DrEvil]

Alright, as you all may know by some of my past posts, I'm an employee of ebgames here in good ol Canada.

For those canucks out there, you may know we're running a 31% extra tradein credit for the month of October when you trade in more than 5 ITEMS (games, dvds, whatever) towards an unreleased game or system (eg xbox 360)

What you guys might not know however, is that the following OLD SYSTEM games get a minimum trade in credit:

SNES: $4
PS1: $5
GBC: $5
N64: $5

So if you have any ps1 gbc or n64 game, you'll get a minimum of five bucks for them.

This spurred an idea: if we get enough cheap ass ps1 games (they're arguably going to be the cheapest of the bunch to get), you could use this to get enough credit to put towards an xbox 360 core or big bundle and get away with only paying $100 or so dollars.

So how many games does this take?
Well, keep in mind that EB games tradein credit INCLUDES tax, so if you have $400 in credit, you can get that $399 core bundle without paying tax.

Alright, so here's a breakdown:

Xbox 360 Core System: $399.99

61 games x $5 = $305 base credit.
x 31% extra ends up being
$399.55 of credit you'll put towards the xbox

So how much would you realisticly have to pay?
FIFTY CENTS after tax


How bout the big bundle? well, $499.99
76 games x $5 = $380
x 31% extra credit
$497.80
a difference of $2.52 after tax

So here's the good part, how can you do it for as little as $100 bucks?
Ebay and garage sales.

Stay away from pawn shops and other trade-in places that give cash; it's very unlikely they'll ever price something cheaper than what they gave cash for.

I was able to find 60 games for $100, so about $1.67 per game, which isn't bad at all.

And if you're like me, I'm going to throw it right up on ebay and gain massive profit when the xbox 360 ends up being a hot product.. And, if it doens't end up being a hard to find object, I got myself an xbox for 100 bucks.

So yeah, enjoy exploiting the system.

 

[koam]

Sorry, but this is a really stupid idea. I'm not getting rid of 60+ games to get a console.

 

[DrEvil]

Sorry, but this is a really stupid idea. I'm not getting rid of 60+ games to get a console.

it's not a matter of getting rid of them; this is all in the prospect of being able to aquire games specifically for this 'project'.
Think of it this way, you're either spending minimum four hundred plus tax, or a $100 and no tax, and getting the same product.

I dont epxect anyone to use their existing library, that'd be dumb

 

[Tea Master]

No offence, but that's useless and a big ripoff. I hate how the EB employees always badger me to buy used games. They only do it because they make more money selling used games than new games.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Good god man, you are a retails store's greatest enemy.

 

[robo_robo]

Do they accept sports games?

 

[Robobandit]

Good god man, you are a retails store's greatest enemy.

They are their own worst enemy for putting up deals like these, honestly.

 

[DrEvil]

yann: yup, any game really, and like i said above, any old gen title listed gets the minimum there.

Dreamcast games, get $0 apparently tho :S


And yeah, I may be a retail store's worst enemy, but they pay us shit to sell they're stuff and treat us even worse, so in all reality, us exploiting the system once or twice isnt going to bankrupt them.

 

[rastex]

I was able to find 60 games for $100, so about $1.67 per game, which isn't bad at all.

How did you find 60 games for that much, just at garage sales? For the minimum price of those games what kind of quality do they have to be in? Do they have to have the case and all that crap, or just work.

 

[Deku]

Trade in your kidneys today to get PS3 for $100.

 

[Orin GA]

Heres the actuall Scenario.

Customer: Id like to trade in 76 of these games.
Employee: Get fuck out my store.

 

[koam]

it's not a matter of getting rid of them; this is all in the prospect of being able to aquire games specifically for this 'project'.
Think of it this way, you're either spending minimum four hundred plus tax, or a $100 and no tax, and getting the same product.

I dont epxect anyone to use their existing library, that'd be dumb

How about the fact that you have to actually buy 60 or so games? How are you going to find that many for $100? Ebay is not an option, you pay for shipping.

 

[Amir0x]

Heres the actuall Scenario.

Customer: Id like to trade in 76 of these games.
Employee: Get fuck out my store.

I traded in 60 DVDs today at EBGames + my old broken Gamecube, and the system crashed four times.

 

[May16]

it's not a matter of getting rid of them; this is all in the prospect of being able to aquire games specifically for this 'project'.
Think of it this way, you're either spending minimum four hundred plus tax, or a $100 and no tax, and getting the same product.

Spending $100...and losing like 50-60 games. Even if I haven't played something in years, I know there's always a chance, otherwise I would have sold the games years/months ago when I could have gotten more money for them. :/

 

[DrEvil]

How about the fact that you have to actually buy 60 or so games? How are you going to find that many for $100? Ebay is not an option, you pay for shipping.

I used ebay, it was only $20 for shipping (so it was $105 total).

you basically just need the discs, it's not a huge deal if you don't have all the other stuff (considering it's older gen titles).

-d

 

[finalfantasy7]

You are telling me that i can trade in just PS1 game discs without the cases and the manuals to get this $5 minimun credit? You sure about that?...

 

[bobbyconover]

Craigslist is a great option for finding dozens of PS1 games cheap. I see people selling their complete PS1 game libraries for $40-50 on there all the time.

 

[Sapiens]

just type in 'lot playstation games' in ebay and you are set!

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

Heres the actuall Scenario.

Customer: Id like to trade in 76 of these games.
Employee: Get fuck out my store.

QFT.

 

[BobbyRobby]

You are telling me that i can trade in just PS1 game discs without the cases and the manuals to get this $5 minimun credit? You sure about that?...

Yeah, you're definitely sure about this? I have about 25 crap games laying around already.

 

[ocelittle]

I'm willing to do this if this is true...

I'm in Toronto and need to know ASAP.

I hate trusting things when only one guy knows about it.

 

[Wario64]

nice deal, i would definitely do this if i was in canada. it's always fun exploiting these trade in deals, even if you are helping their bottom line by giving them used games

 

[Darko]

I would be up for this. Ill wait for someone else to try it first, I dont wana walk in Ebgames with a bunch of ps1 games and look like a retard. :lol

 

[ocelittle]

Would you or would you not get kicked out for bringing in that many games?

Also, is there a minimum on GC/XBOX/PS2 titles?

I have like...5 'this gen' games that I want to get rid of and if I can get more than 4-5 bucks than that's good, too.

 

[Lambtron]

You know what? I may have to try this...

 

[Magnus]

Ocelitttle, and anyone else who's curious about trading in current-gen titles towards a 360:

I'm an EBGames employee in Toronto myself. The better deal to exploit this month is the $10/20 trade-in credit you get towards a 360 for every current-gen title you trade in. Every title is categorized in EBG's system as either PO, or PO-X, the latter being older/cheaper/or in too great a quantity in the company (say, most 2005 sports titles, for example, esp. since the 06s just came out). All PO titles get $20, all PO-X titles get $10, when traded in toward a 360 pre-order, and more if their standard trade-in values (in particular) happen to be more than those minimums. The trick is discovering how to cheaply obtain PO titles, of course. And hell, the worst of the worst (of the cheapest :lol ) still get you $10, no matter what, as long as they're complete packages (booklet, box and disc).

Believe or not, titles like Cy Girls PS2, Hunter - Redeemer XBX and Midnight Club II XBX are still PO. I obtained copies of each of those three for ~$10 apiece.

WIN. My money basically doubled in value. Sure, it'd be cheaper to try the method above of cheaply obtaining PS1 games, many of which go for practically nothing, but this metho'd be more straightforward and you wouldn't be caught getting cut-eye for carrying in 61 PS1 games. Also, see a note at the end of my post re: these minimum values -- I ain't so sure they're accurate, but I could be mistaken.

Oh, and just for reference, whenever you see the "Trade 3 Get 1 Free" promo going on (and it's always going on on some titles every month, up to and including the release date of the game ONLY, usually), it's the PO games that qualify for trade in, while PO-X does not. In the past, there was an option to do 5 PO-X games for 1 free, but that's been abandoned. For awhile, there was even a PO-Z category for the absolute worst games (NHL 2000 PS2 :lol ) but that's been eliminated as well. Some EBGames stores actually circumvent company policy and allow you to do the 3 for 1 on any new software coming up -- it's only actually on ~5-10 titles each month, but if you can get away with it, do it. The stores are probably doing it because they're fucking desperate for trade-ins.

By the way, I'm not entirely sure where the thread starter got the info on regarding trade-ins of old gen stuff. Most PS1 games I scan in are at $1-3 (notable exceptions being most 2-4 disc games and pretty much all Square/Working Designs games, which go from $5-15), but I may have missed an EB Line or some other e-mail that approved overriding up to $5. Certainly didn't see minimums on GBC/SNES stuff, but I could've missed it.

 

[ocelittle]

Hmm...interesting.
So all current gen games are 10 bucks right now?

Does the money have to go towards the 360 or just credit towards the store (obviously, since those scumbags don't take cash).

But back to the 'other' idea, can you envision someone bringing in 50 PSone games and actually taking them or is that just wishful thinking?

 

[ocelittle]

Ocelitttle, and anyone else who's curious about trading in current-gen titles towards a 360:

I'm an EBGames employee in Toronto myself. The better deal to exploit this month is the $10/20 trade-in credit you get towards a 360 for every current-gen title you trade in. Every title is categorized in EBG's system as either PO, or PO-X, the latter being older/cheaper/or in too great a quantity in the company (say, most 2005 sports titles, for example, esp. since the 06s just came out). All PO titles get $20, all PO-X titles get $10, when traded in toward a 360 pre-order, and more if their standard trade-in values (in particular) happen to be more than those minimums. The trick is discovering how to cheaply obtain PO titles, of course. And hell, the worst of the worst (of the cheapest :lol ) still get you $10, no matter what, as long as they're complete packages (booklet, box and disc).

Believe or not, titles like Cy Girls PS2, Hunter - Redeemer XBX and Midnight Club II XBX are still PO. I obtained copies of each of those three for ~$10 apiece.

WIN. My money basically doubled in value. Sure, it'd be cheaper to try the method above of cheaply obtaining PS1 games, many of which go for practically nothing, but this metho'd be more straightforward and you wouldn't be caught getting cut-eye for carrying in 61 PS1 games. Also, see a note at the end of my post re: these minimum values -- I ain't so sure they're accurate, but I could be mistaken.

Oh, and just for reference, whenever you see the "Trade 3 Get 1 Free" promo going on (and it's always going on on some titles every month, up to and including the release date of the game ONLY, usually), it's the PO games that qualify for trade in, while PO-X does not. In the past, there was an option to do 5 PO-X games for 1 free, but that's been abandoned. For awhile, there was even a PO-Z category for the absolute worst games (NHL 2000 PS2 :lol ) but that's been eliminated as well. Some EBGames stores actually circumvent company policy and allow you to do the 3 for 1 on any new software coming up -- it's only actually on ~5-10 titles each month, but if you can get away with it, do it. The stores are probably doing it because they're fucking desperate for trade-ins.

By the way, I'm not entirely sure where the thread starter got the info on regarding trade-ins of old gen stuff. Most PS1 games I scan in are at $1-3 (notable exceptions being most 2-4 disc games and pretty much all Square/Working Designs games, which go from $5-15), but I may have missed an EB Line or some other e-mail that approved overriding up to $5. Certainly didn't see minimums on GBC/SNES stuff, but I could've missed it.

Hmm...interesting, thanks for the tip!

 

[DrEvil]

...

Twas an ebline about two weeks back... Just scan any ps1 game in the f6 tradein screen.. it should show up as five bucks.

Ocilette: I've seen it before, people come in all the time and dump off all their old stuff.
Had a guy once come in with nes, snes, and ps1; i think it was over 100 units of tradein in one transaction; it's kinda a pain to do and then sort afterwards, but you can't turn someone away.

I figured this would be more of an employee exploit, as you could do the transaction yourself, and just have your girlfriend or friend do the tradein, as there's no staff discount involved.


and as for the 10/20 pox/po trade in thing, yeah, it has to be towards the cost of the system... I was thinking of doing this, but in the long run the cost was much higher, and I'm a cheap bastard

 

[Lambtron]

Well I found about 10 N64, 15 PSX, and 5 SNES things in my collection that I have no probelm parting with. And I've still got some boxes to look through! My hope is that I can find 10-15 more (shouldn't be a problem) and nab 10-15 at shops for $2 or something. This is a hot deal if it works!

 

[Magnus]

Hell no man, you can throw your employee discount onto the same sale. We're allowed to take advantage of the same trade-in promos everyone else is (and if we aren't, we should be, we're customers too). And if you're talking about an employee discount on the 360 itself, then ignore what I just said, you're right. :E What sucks is they took away our staff discount on pre-played hardware as well, as part of the new Gamestop rules I believe. Worse still, all commission is gone on new GPGs and any warranties we sell.

DID EVERYONE HEAR THAT:

When we sell warranties on new software or any hardware at all, new/used, we aren't making any commission at all. We're actually only selling it for your benefit, so please don't tell us to shut up, we're trying to @&*#!@ help you.

:E




Oce, re: PS1 titles, if it is indeed true, this is great. PS1 titles are ultra cheap. You can definitely find some as low as 0.50 or 1.00 at bargain sales and shit. If indeed they all come in on F6 at $5 minimum, that's like, quadrupling one's original investment, or hextupling or whatever, lol.

 

[Fifty]

Do you have any preorders left for the 360 at your EB, Magus?

 

[DrEvil]

Hell no man, you can throw your employee discount onto the same sale. We're allowed to take advantage of the same trade-in promos everyone else is (and if we aren't, we should be, we're customers too). And if you're talking about an employee discount on the 360 itself, then ignore what I just said, you're right. :E What sucks is they took away our staff discount on pre-played hardware as well, as part of the new Gamestop rules I believe. Worse still, all commission is gone on new GPGs and any warranties we sell.

DID EVERYONE HEAR THAT:

When we sell warranties on new software or any hardware at all, new/used, we aren't making any commission at all. We're actually only selling it for your benefit, so please don't tell us to shut up, we're trying to @&*#!@ help you.

:E

Yeh it was nice when i got my original xbox preplayed in the summer, it was like 110 bucks total ,lol.

As for gpg/esa's.. we only get spiff on PREPLAYED gpg and esa's.. so we don't see a penny on new product.

fucking merger.

edit: also, once my games arrive via shipping; i'll do the trade/preorder and show you just to confirm this does work. But I can assure you it will

 

[Magnus]

Lol, pet peeve, there's an N in my name. I ain't no Toriyama wizard.

And yeah, first shipment quantites are no longer guaranteed if you're ordering now. Pretty much all retailers in Canada are beginning to report launch day shipments as being sold out. I know the two stores I work at are already pre-ordering past launch day allocation for whatever shipment arrives next (could be later in the day, or in December for all we know).

edit- we get PP PRP/ESA commission...O RLY? News to me. That's nice. But fuck, do I ever wish all these changes happened AFTER the 360 launch. Commission on 360 ESAs would've added $100 to my paycheque. I won't be pushing them at all. Goddamned company can lose all those sales as far as I'm concerned.

I'm half tempted to not offer it at all, or tell customers something like, "if you open it and it craps out on you, you're fucked. We won't back you up at all" :lol Take my commission away and not expect to see sales drop? My FOOT.

 

[DrEvil]

Lol, pet peeve, there's an N in my name. I ain't no Toriyama wizard.

And yeah, first shipment quantites are no longer guaranteed if you're ordering now. Pretty much all retailers in Canada are beginning to report launch day shipments as being sold out. I know the two stores I work at are already pre-ordering past launch day allocation for whatever shipment arrives next (could be later in the day, or in December for all we know).

Magnus, our district is reporting we're sold out on 'big' bundles, but we can continue preordering the core system as eb will be getting 'a lot of those' and we're being pushed to get people to downgrade... MS' plan all along? price gouggee cuz it's a musthave system?

 

[Foil]

Well hopefully the EB in Square One will give me $150 towards my 360 preorder for my mass of older Xbox sports titles coming their way. Is this deal only for October?

 

[Fifty]

And yeah, first shipment quantites are no longer guaranteed if you're ordering now. Pretty much all retailers in Canada are beginning to report launch day shipments as being sold out. I know the two stores I work at are already pre-ordering past launch day allocation for whatever shipment arrives next (could be later in the day, or in December for all we know).

Ok thanks....just making sure. I'm resigned to checking the walmarts of the world on launch day because I didn't care to preorder in time... What store do you work at btw?

 

[DrEvil]

Well hopefully the EB in Square One will give me $150 towards my 360 preorder for my mass of older Xbox sports titles coming their way. Is this deal only for October?

the 31% is yes, but the 10/20$ tradein thing is up until the system comes out ... now if your store will ACCEPT the preorder is another story...

and I aint telling you where or what store number, you could bust my ass

 

[Magnus]

Two stores in Toronto, Fairview and the new mini-store that opened up in the Rogers flagship store in North York. I'd be wary of bringing a stack of tons of PS1 titles to Fairview, the staff I work with can get pissed pretty quick, but they can't refuse. We're supposed to be allowed discretion on PS1 titles where disc quality is concerned. I know most people on our staff will refuse badly scratched up PS1 games (read: 99% of used PS1 games). We always have the right to refuse trade-ins, and unfortunately, some I work with exercise that often. Shit, I mean, I would if they were like, launch PS1 titles with all manner of gouges in them that I knew wouldn't sell.

Oh yes, Oce is right, correction, it's just the $499 bundle that's gone. Plenty of core systems left, but who wants that garbage. :E

Oce - not so sure about $10/20 running through to launch. It's listed in our October marketing directives booklet...not sure if it listed an end-date. You could be right.

Oh, and if someone just tried to add me to AIM, try again plz.

 

[Foil]

the 31% is yes, but the 10/20$ tradein thing is up until the system comes out ... now if your store will ACCEPT the preorder is another story...

and I aint telling you where or what store number, you could bust my ass

Hmm thankfully I already have a 360 preordered there, with $50 paid off. So hopefully they'll just tack this onto what I've already paid off.

 

[ocelittle]

Ocilette

All of a sudden I'm a girl. Best misspelling of my name EVAR.

 

[goodcow]

Heres the actuall Scenario.

Customer: Id like to trade in 76 of these games.
Employee: Get fuck out my store.

:lol

 

[Economan]

What you guys might not know however, is that the following OLD SYSTEM games get a minimum trade in credit:

SNES: $4
PS1: $5
GBC: $5
N64: $5

I don't see how this is possible. This is because when I wanted to trade in Van Hellsing for the Xbox, the clerk at EB was only going to give me $2.00 Canadian.

 

[DrEvil]

I don't see how this is possible. This is because when I wanted to trade in Van Hellsing for the Xbox, the clerk at EB was only going to give me $2.00 Canadian.

current gen titles still get ya ass backward prices; like NHL05 is only $1.00

For some reason, older gen titles have minimums, which.. while weird, makes this all possible.

 

[Aika'svyse]

I love my games too much

no way

 

[ocelittle]

I'm going to go to a local game store that sells crap like this.

So has it been confirmed that it's a MINIMUM of 5 bucks?

 

[DrEvil]

I'm going to go to a local game store that sells crap like this.

So has it been confirmed that it's a MINIMUM of 5 bucks?

I'm going into work today, I'll pull up a list of ps1 titles that show their tradein credit, h'ok?

-d

 

[ocelittle]

I'm going into work today, I'll pull up a list of ps1 titles that show their tradein credit, h'ok?

-d

Sounds good, boss! Thanks!

 

[ocelittle]

Bumping this up, since EB doesn't close that late on Sundays.

Although he might be on the western side of Canada, in which case it's still early .

 

[DrEvil]

Eastern side, near the Toronto area

Anyways, yes, after confirming with my ASM, as well as looking in da system, the game minimums are confirmethed!

I'll print off said list tomorrow and scan it in (kinda slipped my mind to print it, lol) for further proof.

-d